Adsorber generator for use in sorption heat pump processes

ABSTRACT

This invention provides a compact heat exchanger that has an effective geometry for heat transfer operations regardless of the heat conductivity of the material chosen for the fin materials. It has further been found that the use of adsorbent coated anodized aluminum for fin materials provides for a very efficient heat exchanger.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus for use inadsorption and desorption based sorption heat pump processes.

[0002] Sorption heat pump processes typically employ some adsorbentdisposed in a metal vessel and on a metal screen or surface whichprovides support for the adsorbent and permits the adsorbent to beplaced in contact with the fluid stream containing the adsorbablecomponent over the range of conditions necessary for the adsorption anddesorption. The metal structures and physical arrangement of thesedevices has placed certain process limitations which restrict the amountof adsorbent which actually comes in contact with the fluid stream, oris accompanied by heat transfer inefficiencies inherent in thedisposition of the adsorbent.

[0003] In the operation of sorption heat pump systems, generally thereare two or more solid beds containing a solid adsorbent. The solidadsorbent beds desorb refrigerant when heated and adsorb refrigerantvapor when cooled. In this manner the beds can be used to drive therefrigerant around a heat pump system to heat or cool another fluid suchas a process stream or to provide space heating or cooling. In the heatpump system, commonly referred to as the heat pump loop, or a sorptionrefrigeration circuit, the refrigerant is desorbed from a first bed asit is heated to drive the refrigerant out of the first bed and therefrigerant vapor is conveyed to a condenser. In the condenser, therefrigerant vapor is cooled and condensed. The refrigerant condensate isthen expanded to a lower pressure through an expansion valve and the lowpressure condensate passes to an evaporator where the low pressurecondensate is heat exchanged with the process stream or space to beconditioned to revaporize the condensate. When further heating no longerproduces desorbed refrigerant from the first bed, the first bed isisolated and allowed to return to the adsorption conditions. When theadsorption conditions are established in the first bed, the refrigerantvapor from the evaporator is reintroduced to the first bed to completethe cycle. Generally two or more solid adsorbent beds are employed in atypical cycle wherein one bed is heated during the desorption stroke andthe other bed is cooled during the adsorption stroke. The time for thecompletion of a full cycle of adsorption and desorption is known as the“cycle time.” The upper and lower temperatures will vary depending uponthe selection of the refrigerant fluid and the adsorbent. Somethermodynamic processes for cooling and heating by adsorption of arefrigerating fluid on a solid adsorbent use zeolite and other sorptionmaterials such as activated carbon and silica gel. U.S. Pat. No.4,138,850 relates to a system for solar heat utilization employing asolid zeolite adsorbent mixed with a binder, pressed, and sintered intodivider panels and hermetically sealed in containers. U.S. Pat. No.4,637,218 relates to a heat pump system using zeolites as the solidadsorbent and water as the refrigerant wherein the zeolite is slicedinto bricks or pressed into a desired configuration to establish ahermetically sealed space and thereby set up the propagation of atemperature front, or thermal wave through the adsorbent bed. U.S. Pat.No. 5,477,705 discloses an apparatus for refrigeration employing acompartmentalized reactor and alternate circulation of hot and coldfluids to create a thermal wave which passes through the compartmentscontaining a solid adsorbent to desorb and adsorb a refrigerant. U.S.Pat. No. 4,548,046 relates to an apparatus for cooling or heating byadsorption of a refrigerating fluid on a solid adsorbent. The operationsemploy a plurality of tubes provided with parallel radial fins, thespaces between which are filled or covered with solid adsorbent such asZeolite 13X located on the outside of the tubes. U.S. Pat. No.5,518,977, which is hereby incorporated by reference, relates tosorption cooling devices which employ adsorbent coated surfaces toobtain a high cooling coefficient of performance.

[0004] U.S. Pat. No. 5,585,145 discloses a method for providing anadsorbent coating on a heat exchanger which comprises applying aflowable emulsion including a binder agent, water and a solid adsorbentmaterial to the surface of the heat exchanger. The disclosure statesthat the binder can be an adhesive and that the thickness of theadsorbent coating can be dipped, painted or sprayed with a drying stepcomprising heating the layer at temperatures greater than 150° C. inorder to obtain a durable adsorbent coating structure.

[0005] Many sorption chillers are designed with beads or extrudate as anadsorbent. In the present invention, as in U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,107,there are no beads or extrudates with their resistance to heat transfer,but instead there is a compact heat exchanger module that comprises alaminate of adsorbent, especially zeolite, in a polymeric or polymericfiber matrix. This laminate is on a substrate that can support thelaminate and can be employed in the hot and wet environment of theadsorber/generator.

[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,107, incorporated herein in its entirety,teaches the use of a plate-fin-tube arrangement employing a laminatecomposed of thin polymeric fiber matrix on a metallic fin structure.Conventional tubing is laced through the fms by punching holes in thefin structure and forming collars of the fm metal that are maintained inintimate thermal contact with the tube surfaces. While this patentprovided for greatly increased heat transfer and was a significantadvance in the design and performance of adsorber/generators in sorptionbased heat pumps, it failed to deal with the problem of maximizing heattransfer when materials other than high thermal conductivity fin platesare used.

[0007] In addition to the problem of heat transfer resistance in somematerials, a second potential problem arises when clean, uncoatedaluminum is exposed to water vapor under vacuum conditions. This is theproblem of corrosion of the aluminum surface and formation of AlOHradicals on the surface. This reaction liberates hydrogen gas and is acause for the loss of vacuum under some conditions that may be presentin the adsorber/generator of a sorption cooler or heat pump. Stainlesssteel could be used to solve this deficiency, but the low conductivityof stainless steel changes the heat transfer resistance. This makesadsorber/generators made from stainless steel incapable of transferringthe required heat and can result in structures that are much more costlyand only slightly more efficient than packed bed systems. One feature ofthe present invention is to allow for the use of aluminum with itssuperior heat transfer properties but without the corrosion problems ofthe prior art heat exchangers.

[0008] It is an object of the instant invention to provide an improvedcompact heat exchanger with the adsorbent matrix bonded directly to theplates. It is a further object of the invention to enable theapplication of a thin uniform layer of adsorbent material which isintimately bonded to a heat transfer surface. Another object of thepresent invention is to enable a rapid heating and cooling cycle withthe purpose of achieving a high specific power and a high coefficient ofperformance for the sorption cooling cycle. Yet another object of thepresent invention is to provide a heat exchanger geometry that iseffective regardless of the heat conductivity of the fin material thatis chosen.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] The present invention relates to a highly efficient sorption heatpump module apparatus for use in sorption heat pump processes which canbe used effectively with a rapid cooling and heating cycle. A sorptionheat pump exchanger module is employed comprising a plurality ofmetallic plates having a first and a second opposing side and anadsorbent coating covering essentially the entire surface of said firstopposing side and wherein a first and a second of said metallic platesare grouped together to form a sub-unit having a passageway between saidtwo metallic plates for passage of a heat exchange media and wherein aplurality of said sub-units are spaced apart in a stacked arrangementthat eliminates contact between said sub-units; a plurality of tubescontacting said sub-units wherein a heat exchange medium flows withinsaid tubes to and from openings in said tubes to openings in saidsub-units, and a passageway between each of said sub-units wherein arefrigerant flows within said passageway.

[0010] In some embodiments of the invention, it has been found that theuse of metallic plates comprising a corrosion resistant aluminum such asanodized aluminum provides for a highly efficient heat exchanger thatwithstands corrosion. More specifically, the sorption heat pumpexchanger module comprises a plurality of anodized aluminum fin plateshaving a first and second opposing sides and an adsorbent coatingcomprising at least one adsorbent selected from the group consisting ofzeolite X, Zeolite Y, Zeolite A, silica gel, silicas, aluminas andmixtures thereof. The adsorbent coating covers essentially the entiresurface of each opposing side to form coated fin plates and the finplates are spaced apart in a stacked arrangement that eliminatesadsorbent bridging between all coated surfaces. There are at least 300coated fin plates for every meter of the stacked arrangement. Aplurality of tubes extend through openings in the fin plates wherein theoutside of the plurality of tubes directly contacts the periphery of theopenings to form the sorption heat pump exchanger module defining afirst flow path for a heat exchange medium in the plurality of tubes anda second flow path for a refrigerant between said coated fin plates.

[0011] In another embodiment of the present invention, a sorption heatpump exchanger module comprises a plurality of anodized aluminum finplates having a first and second opposing sides and an adsorbent coatingcovering essentially the entire surface of each opposing side. There area plurality of openings defined by the anodized aluminum fin plates andextending through the anodized aluminum fin plates and coating. Aplurality of tubes that have uncoated outer walls extend transverselythrough the anodized aluminum fin plates and have direct contact withthe anodized aluminum fin plates being spaced apart in a stackedarrangement that eliminates adsorbent bridging between all coatedsurfaces and contain at least 300 anodized aluminum fin plates for everymeter of the stacked arrangement. The plurality of tubes extend throughthe openings in the anodized aluminum fin plates wherein the outside ofsaid plurality of tubes directly contact the periphery of the openingsto form the sorption heat pump exchanger module defining a first flowpath for a heat exchange medium in said plurality of tubes and a secondflow path for a refrigerant between said coated anodized aluminum finplates. The adsorbent is selected from the group consisting of ZeoliteX, Zeolite Y, Zeolite A, silica gel, silicas, aluminas and mixturesthereof.

[0012] In yet other embodiments of the present invention, the sorptionheat pump exchanger module comprises a plurality of fin plates, having afirst side and a second side opposite said first side wherein said finplates are approximately rectangular in shape. The fin plates have twolong edges and two short edges. An adsorbent coating covers a majorityof the first side and the second side, except where there is a gap inthe adsorbent coating extending from one of the long edges to the otherof the long edges. The fm plates are bent along the gaps to form acorrugated structure and the fin plates contact a top and a bottomoutside surface of a pair of parallel heat transfer passages. Thisstructure has been found to have highly effective heat transferproperties.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013]FIG. 1 is a view of a single-sided laminate of azeolite-containing matrix bonded to a substrate.

[0014]FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a pair of single-sidedlaminates mated together with a heat transfer channel between the twolaminates.

[0015]FIG. 3 shows a view of the heat transfer passageway between twolayers of the laminate of the present invention.

[0016]FIG. 4 shows an assembly of repeating units of the units shown inFIG. 3.

[0017]FIG. 5 shows a double-sided laminate of a zeolite-containingmatrix bonded to both sides of a substrate.

[0018]FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of the invention having gaps in thelamination to allow for bonding of a surface to an adjacent heattransfer passage.

[0019]FIG. 7 shows how the uncoated gaps in the structure shown in FIG.6 are mated to the outside of heat transfer surfaces.

[0020]FIG. 8 shows a combination of the heat transfer passage assemblyof FIG. 4 with the addition of fm stock bonded to the outside surfacesof the heat transfer surfaces.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0021] In the present invention, the adsorption zone is comprises thinsheets of adsorbent paper layers bonded to a substrate. For sorptionheat pump processes, the adsorption zone comprises a plurality of suchplates disposed on tubes to form a tube and flat plate heat exchanger.The adsorbent layer comprises an adsorbent paper layer. An example ofthe type of adsorbent paper layer for use in the present invention isdisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,650,221 which is hereby incorporated byreference. The adsorbent paper layer of U.S. Pat. No. 5,650,221 iscomprised of an improved support material, fibrous material, binders,and high levels of desiccant or adsorbent material. The fibrousmaterials include cellulosic fibers, synthetic fibers and mixturesthereof Fibrillated fibers, that is, fiber shafts which are split attheir ends to form fibrils, i.e., fine fibers or filaments much finerthan the fiber shafts are preferred. Examples of fibrillated, syntheticorganic fibers useful in the adsorbent paper of the present inventionare fibrillated aramid and acrylic fibers. A particularly preferredexample of such a fiber is available from E. I. du Pont de Nemours &Company under the designation KEVLAR®. The desiccant or adsorbent may beincorporated therein during fabrication of the paper, or the paper maybe formed and the desiccant or adsorbent coated thereon, or acombination of adsorbent incorporation during paper making and coatingwith adsorbent thereafter may be used. As the thickness of the adsorbentpaper increases up to an optimal value, the capacity for heating will beincreased. However, since cost also increases with increasing thickness,a balance between heating capacity and cost is necessary. Preferably,the adsorbent paper of the present invention comprises a thickness offrom about 0.13 to about 0.75 mm and comprises at least 50 wt-%adsorbent. More preferably, the adsorbent paper comprises from about0.25 to about 0.6 mm in thickness and comprises more than about 70 wt-%adsorbent. Most preferably, the adsorbent paper is about 0.5 mm inthickness and comprises more than 70 wt-% adsorbent. The adsorbent canbe any material capable of adsorbing an adsorbable component such as arefrigerant. The adsorbent may comprise powdered solid, crystallinecompounds capable of adsorbing and desorbing the adsorbable compound.Examples of such adsorbents include silica gels, activated aluminas,activated carbon, molecular sieves and mixtures thereof. Molecularsieves include zeolite molecular sieves. Other materials which can beused as adsorbents include halogenated compounds such as halogen saltsincluding chloride, bromide, and fluoride salts as examples. Thepreferred adsorbents are zeolites. Preferably, at least 70 wt-% of theadsorbent paper is a zeolite molecular sieve.

[0022] The pore size of the zeolitic molecular sieves may be varied byemploying different metal cations. For example, sodium zeolite A has anapparent pore size of about 4 Å units, whereas calcium zeolite A has anapparent pore size of about 5 Å units. The term “apparent pore size” asused herein may be defined as the maximum critical dimension of themolecular sieve in question under normal conditions. The apparent poresize will always be larger than the effective pore diameter, which maybe defined as the free diameter of the appropriate silicate ring in thezeolite structure. Zeolitic molecular sieves in the calcined form may berepresented by the general formula:

Me_(2/n)O:Al₂O₃:xSiO₂:yH₂O

[0023] where Me is a cation, x has a value from about 2 to infinity, nis the cation valence and y has a value of from about 2 to 10. Thegeneral formula for a molecular sieve composition known commercially astype 13X is:

1.0±0.2Na₂O:1.00Al₂O₃:2.5±0.5SiO₂

[0024] plus water of hydration. Type 13X has a cubic crystal structurewhich is characterized by a three-dimensional network with mutuallyconnected intracrystalline voids accessible through pore openings whichwill admit molecules with critical dimensions up to 10 Å. The voidvolume is 51 vol-% of the zeolite and most adsorption takes place in thecrystalline voids. Typical well-known zeolites which may be used includechabazite, also referred to as Zeolite D, clinoptilolite, erionite,faujasite, also referred to as Zeolite X and Zeolite Y, ferrierite,mordenite, Zeolite A, and Zeolite P. Other zeolites suitable for useaccording to the present invention are those having high silica content.The adsorbent can be selected from the group consisting of DDZ-70, Y-54,Y-74, Y-84, Y-85, low cerium mixed rare earth exchanged Y-84, calcinedrare earth exchanged LZ-210 at a framework SiO₂/Al₂O₃ mol equivalentratio of less than about 7.0 and mixtures thereof.

[0025] The appropriate adsorbent to be selected is dependent upon theplanned operating conditions of the heat pump containing the sorptionheat pump exchangers of the present invention. Among the factorsdetermining the choice of adsorbent is the source of and amount of powerfor the heat pump, the desired regeneration temperature and the generalclimatic conditions that occur where the heat pump will be used. Forexample, at higher regeneration temperatures, zeolite (X) (from anSi/Al₂ ratio of 2.3 and up) or zeolite (Y) (from an Si/Al₂ ratio of 5and up) are more effective due to higher heat of adsorption and theresulting greater ability to obtain high loading at relatively highadsorption temperatures. When the regeneration temperature andadsorption temperature are both relatively low, then the preferredadsorbent type is zeolite DDZ-70 (available from UOP LLC, Des Plaines,Ill.) due to its low heat of adsorption and consequently its ability toregenerate at relatively low temperatures.

[0026] For example, when the regeneration temperature and the condensingand adsorption temperatures are below 40° to 50° C., then the DDZ-70zeolite is a good choice of adsorbent. At higher temperatures such asabout 150° C., regeneration temperature and adsorption temperature above50° C., NaY zeolite works well.

[0027] A heat transfer fluid, such as a cold fluid to cool theadsorption zone to adsorption conditions of adsorption temperature, isintroduced at a cold fluid temperature into the heat transfer zone. Ahot heat transfer fluid is introduced to the heat transfer zone, whenrequired to raise the temperature of the adsorption zone to desorptionconditions such as a desorption temperature. The cold heat transferfluid and the hot heat transfer fluid may be selected from the groupconsisting of water, alcohols, ammonia, light hydrocarbons,chloro-fluorocarbons, fluorocarbons, and mixtures thereof. Water is apreferred heat transfer fluid. Similarly, for sorption heat pumpoperations, a refrigerant is selected from the group consisting ofwater, alcohols, ammonia, light hydrocarbons, chloro-fluorocarbons,fluorocarbons, and mixtures thereof. It is preferred that the heattransfer fluids and the refrigerants not react with the materials of theheat transfer surface. Additives and inhibitors such as amines can beadded to the heat transfer fluids to pacify or inhibit such reactions.

[0028] In the operation of the sorption heat pump system of the presentinvention, a portion of the adsorbent zones may be in an adsorptionmode, an intermediate mode, or a desorption mode. In the typicalinstallation, at least one portion of the adsorbent zones will generallybe active in each of the operating modes at any given time in order toprovide a continuous process. The desorption mode comprises a desorptiontemperature ranging from about 80° to about 350° C. and a desorptionpressure ranging from about 2 kPa to about 1.5M Pa (220 psia).

[0029] The sorption zone may be operated with a variety ofsorbent/refrigerant combinations or pairs. Examples of pairings of suchsorbent/refrigerant pairs include zeolite/water, zeolite/ethanol,zeolite/methanol, carbon/ethanol, zeolite/ammonia, zeolite/propane andsilica gel/water. The operating conditions will vary with the selectionof the sorbent/refrigerant pair.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030]FIG. 1 shows a single-sided laminate 10 having at least two layersincluding a substrate layer 12 and an adsorbent-containing layer 14. Theadsorbent layer comprises an adsorbent. Preferably, the adsorbent isselected from the group consisting of zeolite X, zeolite Y, zeolite A,silica gel, silicas, aluminas, and mixtures thereof More preferably, theadsorbent is selected from the group consisting of zeolite Y-54, zeoliteY-74, zeolite Y-84, zeolite Y-85, steam condensed rare earth exchangedY-54, low cerium rare earth exchanged Y-84, low cerium rare earthexchanged zeolite LZ-210, zeolite DDZ-70 and mixtures thereof. Mostpreferably, the adsorbent is selected from the group consisting ofzeolite Y having a trivalent cation in the β-cage of the zeolitestructure. The adsorbent layer may be formed by conventional coatingmethods such as slip coatings, dipping, spray coating, curtain coating,and combinations thereof. One preferred method of forming an adsorbentlayer on the fm plate is by applying a layer of adsorbent paper such asdisclosed herein above wherein the paper contains the adsorbent in auniform layer. The adsorbent paper layer may be laminated to the finplates by any means such as a heat and moisture resistant adhesive-likeepoxy. By applying the adsorbent layer to the fm plate prior to assemblyof the sorption heat pump module, the build-up or flooding of adsorbentat the root where the tube contacts the fin plate is avoided. Typically,the adsorbent paper layer has a thickness of between about 0.25 andabout 0.6 mm. For layers of this thickness, stacked arrangements of finplates having from about 300 to about 800 fin plates per meter of tubelength may be assembled. The arrangements of fin plates in each of theembodiments of the present invention is optimized for heating power andcost factors. In particular, the fin thickness, fm material, and finspacing as well as the thickness of the adsorbent layer are optimized tominimize the cost while maximizing the performance of an adsorption heatpump. Fins that are thicker than the optimal thickness will not providethe desired heat transfer. The fms need to be properly spaced for easeof refrigerant flow. One optimal arrangement consisted of 0.31 mm (0.012inch) thick aluminum fms with 0.51 mm (0.02 inch) thick adsorbent media.

[0031]FIG. 2 shows a pair of the single-sided laminates of FIG. 1oriented so that the substrate layers 12 are facing within each pair ofsingle-sided laminates. A heat transfer channel 16 is between each pairof single-sided laminates.

[0032]FIG. 3 shows an alternate embodiment of the invention wherein twosingle-sided laminates are corrugated and then mated together to formflow channels for a refrigerant within a subassembly 20. The subassembly20 that is formed is sealed at two or three of the four edges. Sealededges 22, 24 are shown. In the perspective shown in FIG. 3, a heattransfer fluid would flow in and out of the plane as shown in a heattransfer passage 26. In the embodiment shown, the uncoated substratelayer 12 is on the interior of the subassembly 20 and theadsorbent-containing layer 14 is on the outside of the subassembly 20 asshown.

[0033]FIG. 4 shows a view of the subassemblies 20 of FIG. 3 arrangedinto an assembly 30. The subassembly 20 has been turned so that the flowpath of the heat transfer fluid is now across the side having theadsorbent layer. Arrows show the direction of flow of the heat transferfluid. An inlet header 32 and an outlet header 34 mate and seal toopenings at both ends of subassembly 20 and allow for flow of heattransfer fluid up the headers and across inside surfaces of subassembly20. In a heat pump, the entire assembly displayed in FIG. 3 is placedinside a vacuum vessel and spaces 36 between the subassemblies 20contain the refrigerant that also fills the open portions of the vacuumsurrounding the assembly. The primary surface area for heat transfer isthe entire inside surface of all the subassemblies 20.

[0034]FIG. 5 shows a double-sided laminate 40 that comprises a singlesheet 42 of a base material, such as aluminum and layers 44, 46 of azeolite matrix bonded to each opposing surface of the base material.

[0035]FIG. 6 shows a special arrangement of the double-sided laminate ofFIG. 5 where there are gaps 48 in the layers 44, 46 so as to allow forcorrugation that will leave uncoated (nonlaminated) sections of the basematerial exposed. The presence of these gaps allows for bonding of thenonlaminated sections of the laminate to the outside surface of a heattransfer passage.

[0036]FIG. 7 shows how the gaps 48 are mated to outside surfaces 52, 54of heat transfer fluid passages in a unit 56. A refrigerant 58 is shownflowing next to the laminate. The double-sided laminate of FIG. 6 isshown in a corrugated pattern to maximize surface area.

[0037]FIG. 8 shows how the repeating units of a heat transfer passagewith fin stock bonded to the outside surfaces of the heat transferpassage as in FIG. 7 are stacked to form an entire heat exchanger. Aninlet header 62 and an outlet header 64 are shown for flow of the heatexchange fluid to the heat transfer fluid passages of unit 56. Thisdesign combines the advantage of large fm surface with the compact styleheat exchanger that has a large primary surface area. In one embodimentof FIG. 8, the metal layers are aluminum plates that have been anodizedto prevent any potential corrosion reactions with water. The anodizingstep is carried out prior to the lamination and assembly of the heatexchanger core.

1: A sorption heat pump exchanger module comprising: a) a plurality ofmetallic plates having a first and a second opposing side and anadsorbent coating covering essentially the entire surface of said firstopposing side and wherein a first and a second of said metallic platesare grouped together to form a sub-unit having a passageway between saidtwo metallic plates for passage of a heat exchange media and wherein aplurality of said sub-units are spaced apart in a stacked arrangementthat eliminates contact between said sub-units; b) a plurality of tubescontacting said sub-units wherein a heat exchange medium flows withinsaid tubes to and from openings in said tubes to openings in saidsub-units, and c) a passageway between each of said sub-units wherein arefrigerant flows within said passageway. 2: The sorption heat pumpexchanger module of claim 1 wherein the adsorbent coating comprises alayer of paper comprising said adsorbent. 3: The sorption heat pumpexchanger module of claim 1 wherein said first opposing side of saidfirst metallic plate faces the first opposing side of said secondmetallic plate within each of said sub-units. 4: The sorption heat pumpexchanger module of claim 1 wherein said second opposing side of saidfirst metallic plate faces said second opposing side of said secondmetallic plate within each of said sub-units. 5: The sorption heat pumpexchanger module of claim 1 wherein said metallic plates have anadsorbent coating covering essentially the entire surface of said secondopposing side. 6: The sorption heat pump exchanger module of claim 1wherein the adsorbent coating comprises a layer of paper comprising saidadsorbent. 7: The sorption heat pump exchanger module of claim 1 whereinwithin said sub-units, said first metallic plate contacts said secondmetallic plate on each of two edges to form a seal to form saidpassageway for said heat transfer medium and wherein said metallicplates are curved to form said passageway. 8: The sorption heat pumpexchanger module of claim 1 wherein said adsorbent coating comprises anadsorbent selected from the group consisting of zeolite X, Zeolite Y,Zeolite A, silica gel, silicas, aluminas and mixtures thereof. 9: Thesorption heat pump exchanger module of claim 1 wherein said adsorbentcoating comprises a layer comprising zeolite Y selected from the groupconsisting of zeolite Y-54, zeolite Y-74, zeolite Y-84, steam calcinedrare earth exchanged Y-54, zeolite Y-85, low cerium rare earth exchangedY-84, low cerium rare earth exchanged zeolite LZ-210 and zeolite DDZ-70.10: The sorption heat pump exchanger module of claim 1 wherein therefrigerant and the heat transfer fluid are selected from the groupconsisting of water, alcohols, ammonia, light hydrocarbons,chloro-fluorocarbons, fluorocarbons and mixtures, thereof. 11: Thesorption heat pump exchanger module of claim 1 wherein said substratecomprises anodized aluminum. 12: The sorption heat pump exchanger moduleof claim 1 wherein said adsorbent coating covers essentially the entiresurface of both opposing sides of said metallic plates. 13: A sorptionheat pump exchanger module comprising a) a plurality of fin plates,having a first side and a second side opposite said first side whereinsaid fin plates are approximately rectangular in shape, and wherein saidfin plates have two long edges and two short edges; b) an adsorbentcoating covering a majority of said first side and said second side,wherein a gap in said adsorbent coating extends from one of said longedges to the other of said long edges c) wherein said fin plates arebent along said gaps to form a corrugated structure and d) wherein saidfin plates contact a top and a bottom outside surface of a pair ofparallel heat transfer passages. 14: The sorption heat pump exchangermodule of claim 13 wherein the adsorbent coating comprises a layer ofpaper comprising said adsorbent. 15: The sorption heat pump exchangermodule of claim 1 wherein within said sub-units, said first metallicplate contacts said second metallic plate on each of two edges to form aseal to form said passageway for said heat transfer medium and whereinsaid metallic plates are curved to form said passageway. 16: Thesorption heat pump exchanger module of claim 13 wherein said adsorbentcoating comprises an adsorbent selected from the group consisting ofzeolite X, Zeolite Y, Zeolite A, silica gel, silicas, aluminas andmixtures thereof. 17: The sorption heat pump exchanger module of claim13 wherein said adsorbent coating comprises a layer comprising zeolite Yselected from the group consisting of zeolite Y-54, zeolite Y-74,zeolite Y-84, zeolite Y-85, low cerium rare earth exchanged Y-84, lowcerium rare earth exchanged zeolite LZ-210 and zeolite DDZ-70. 18: Thesorption heat pump exchanger module of claim 13 wherein the refrigerantand the heat transfer fluid are selected from the group consisting ofwater, alcohols, ammonia, light hydrocarbons, chloro-fluorocarbons,fluorocarbons and mixtures thereof. 19: The sorption heat pump exchangermodule of claim 13 wherein said substrate comprises anodized aluminum.20-26 (canceled)